I liked Avengers. It was fun and respected the characters, and you really couldn't reasonably ask for anything more. It is what it is, and it is quite an achievement in itself.

But I need a juicy character arc to really LOVE a movie, and Bruce's arc in TDKR did that for me. Nobody in Avengers really had a nice, complete arc.

This. Rises is really a personal story of redemption for Bruce Wayne framed around a sort of modern historical epic. I just love that.

With that said, I don't think it's very appropriate to compare the two films. They're different animals, despite having some similarities and being in the same overarching genre. There's no reason to say which one's better; they can be enjoyed just as much for different reasons. I thought Avengers was great fun.

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Life was such a wheel that no
man could stand upon it for long.
And it always, at the end, came
round to the same place again.